


grow beyond the ache

by sunshineflying



Series: Reylo Tumblr Prompts [7]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 09:54:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14186349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshineflying/pseuds/sunshineflying
Summary: Written for a prompt on Tumblr. Through the bond, Rey and Kylo are together when Leia passes. Rey tries her best to offer Kylo a bit of comfort. Pure angst/fluff.





	grow beyond the ache

The first time Rey sees him after leaving him on Crait, she doesn’t know what to say. Her expression stays neutral. She’s alone, in her own room somewhere on the new Resistance base, a hideout found by Leia and some of the others in charge. Rey doesn’t even remember the name of the planet, which is probably for the best. She doesn’t trust herself not to tell Ben where they are.

Even after everything, she still thinks of him as Ben - the man who helped her take down Snoke. The man who saved her life. There is Light in him, growing brighter with each day. Even after she’d left him.

The First Order is a subtle presence across the galaxy, as much as they can be. They don’t kill entire cities for their resources or one person’s wrongdoing. Kylo is ruling in a way that makes Rey... proud. Almost.

He’d been drawn to her through the Force, and she knows exactly why. The entire Resistance base is in a hushed, worried silence. Their beloved General Leia has fallen ill, and hasn’t awakened. They’re not as hopeful as they were when she’d been blasted from the bridge in the attack from the First Order almost a year ago now. No, this time, Doctor Kalonia says it’s not hopeful. That losing Luke was the last straw for her.

Rey studies Ben across the room, sees the grave sadness in his eyes. He already knows. And Rey understands that if she remembered where they were, she’d probably tell him, because she wants so desperately for him to get the closure he needs.

But she can’t risk the lives of the last few living members of the Resistance. The little, barely flickering spot of hope left in the galaxy.

Gently, Rey reaches out for Ben, to try to touch his shoulder, to offer whatever dim form of condolences she can possibly give through their bond. The moment her fingertips touch his shoulder, he flinches and backs away. Frowning, Rey’s voice is soft as she says, “Not everyone is going to hurt you.”

Ben’s eyes flicker up to meet hers. A fold in his brow conveys his disdain, and he sounds defeated and broken when he asks, “After everything you’ve seen, you really think that’s true?”

“I know it’s true,” Rey insists tenderly. She doesn’t back away from him, but she does lower her hand to her side.

Now she just stands, gazing up at him, the two of them standing closer than they have since they’d fought together against the guards. This time, the stillness lets them feel each other - sense their breath, their heartbeat - connect, through the Force, on a deeper level. Like in the hut.

They feel a flicker at the same time -  _Leia_. Not gone, but close. Moments away.

Rey watches Ben closely, wishing she could do something to take away the ache she feels settling in his chest, the acknowledgement within him that he is now about to become the last surviving member of the Skywalker line - and it’s entirely likely that the line will die with him. Any other possibilities seem unfathomable.

When they feel Leia’s light go out, Ben bows his head, the emotion too much. Rey feels it through their bond, sees it in the way his hands tremble, the way he tries so hard not to let his shoulders shake with the weight of tears he feels foolish for shedding. He’d done this to himself, and he knows it.

Rey has tears silently streaming down her cheeks, but her pain is nothing compared to Ben’s, and she knows this. And unlike anyone else in the galaxy, she wants him to mourn. She knows he has a  _right_  to mourn. He’s been through so much, made decisions he wishes he could take back. His mother was his connection to the Force, to greatness, to  _power_. But he hadn’t seen it until it was too late.

Very softly, in a desperate attempt to help him work through this, Rey asks, “Can I hug you?”

With his head still bowed, he reaches out for her blindly, desperate for even a modicum of comfort. Rey folds herself against him, head tucked underneath his chin. She can feel his tears falling on her face, but she wants to shoulder this burden for him, to help him through this.

She’s already lost her parents - the ones who never loved her. Ben has lost something much more - the last parent he had, the one who held out hope that he’d come back to her, who  _loved him_ , until her very last breath.


End file.
